empyrean (n.)

"empyreal," mid-14c. (as empyre), probably via Medieval Latin empyreus, from Greek empyros "fiery," from assimilated form of en (see en- (2)) + pyr "fire" (from PIE root *paewr- "fire"). As an adjective in English from early 15c. The etymological sense is "formed of pure fire or light." In ancient Greek cosmology, the highest heaven, the sphere of pure fire; later baptized with a Christian sense of "abode of God and the angels."

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to empyrean

en- (2)

word-forming element meaning "near, at, in, on, within," from Greek en "in," cognate with Latin in (from PIE root *en "in"), and thus with en- (1). Typically assimilated to em- before -p-, -b-, -m-, -l-, and -r-.

*paewr-

*paəwr-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "fire."

It forms all or part of: antipyretic; burro; empyreal; empyrean; fire; pyracanth; pyre; pyretic; pyrexia; pyrite; pyro-; pyrolusite; pyromania; pyrrhic; sbirro.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit pu, Hittite pahhur "fire;" Armenian hur "fire, torch;" Czech pyr "hot ashes;" Greek pyr, Umbrian pir "fire;" Old English fyr, German Feuer "fire."

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adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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sphere

a re-Latinized spelling, attested beginning mid-15c., of Middle English spere (c. 1300) "cosmos; space, conceived as a hollow globe about the world," from Anglo-French espiere, Old French espere (13c., Modern French sphère), from Latin sphaera "globe, ball, celestial sphere" (Med

firmament

mid-13c., "expanse of space above the earth where the heavenly bodies move," hence "the arch or vault of the heavens, the visible sky" (c. 1300), from Old French firmament or directly from Latin firmamentum "firmament," literally "a support, a strengthening," from firmus "strong,

welkin

"sky" (poetic), Old English wolcen "cloud," also "sky, heavens," from Proto-Germanic *wulk- (source also of Old Saxon wolkan, Old Frisian wolken, Middle Dutch wolke, Dutch wolk, Old High German wolka, German Wolke "cloud"), perhaps from PIE *welg- "wet" (source also of Lithuanian

zenith

"point of the heavens directly overhead at any place," late 14c., from Old French cenith (Modern French zénith), from Medieval Latin cenit, senit, bungled scribal transliterations of Arabic samt "road, path," abbreviation of samt ar-ras, literally "the way over the head." Letter

herpes

late 14c., "any inflammatory, spreading skin condition" (used of shingles, gangrene, etc.), from Latin herpes "a spreading skin eruption," from Greek herpes, the name for the disease shingles, literally "creeping," from herpein "to creep, move slowly" (cognate with Latin serpere

zodiac

late 14c., from Old French zodiaque, from Latin zodiacus "zodiac," from Greek zodiakos (kyklos) "zodiac (circle)," literally "circle of little animals," from zodiaion, diminutive of zoion "animal" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live"). Libra is not an animal, but it was not a zodiac c

nadir

late 14c., in astronomy, "imaginary point of the celestial sphere vertically opposite to the zenith of the sun; the inferior pole of the horizon," from Medieval Latin nadir, from Arabic nazir "opposite to," in nazir as-samt, literally "opposite direction," from nazir "opposite" +

drain

Middle English dreinen, from Old English dreahnian "to draw off gradually, as a liquid; remove by degrees; strain out," from Proto-Germanic *dreug-, source of drought, dry, giving the English word originally a sense of "to make dry." Figurative meaning of "exhaust" is attested fr

sublime

1580s, of language, style, etc., "expressing lofty ideas in an elevated manner," from French sublime (15c.), or directly from Latin sublimis "uplifted, high, borne aloft, lofty, exalted, eminent, distinguished," possibly originally "sloping up to the lintel," from sub "up to" (se

apex

"the tip, point, or summit" of anything, c. 1600, from Latin apex "summit, peak, tip, top, extreme end;" which is plausibly related to apere "to fasten, fix," hence "the tip of anything" (one of the meanings of apex in Latin was "small rod at the top of the flamen's cap"), and th

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updated on September 14, 2020

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